Surprise Harvest
Yesterday, on my walk down to the garden to water, I passed a man trimming trees in his front yard. One tree particularly caught my attention, as it was brimming with cherry-red tiny orbs. My immediate thought was, “Cherries! But here? And this late in the season?” The man looked very busy, so I put my curiosity on hold and resolved to ask about the bright red fruit if he was in his yard when I returned.
I went to the garden and harvested a few little gold cherry tomatoes I inherited when I got my “fixer” garden plot. I must admit, I watered quickly, thus increasing my chances of finding the man still in his front garden. And lucky me, he was there. I interrupted his work with my question, and he informed me that the “cherries” were actually tiny plums from a volunteer tree.
Now we have many of these volunteers in Northern CA, and in fact have one of our own with tiny yellow plums. I have known many trees that produced tiny purple plums, as well. I’ve made some great jelly from these plums in years past. But these were really, really red. And when he offered to let me taste them, I found them to be as full-flavored as large plums – possibly even more intense – with a sweet golden flesh. Yum. And then things got BETTER! He told me his Gravenstein apple tree (around the corner and out of my sight) was producing more apples than he needed. Would I like some? Oh foodie heaven, yes! He had already picked them, brought out a bag for me to fill, and off I went grinning like crazy. All. The Way. UP. The Hill. I’m sure people driving by thought I was nuts. No one ever smiles that way while walking up the steep hill lugging groceries. But I wasn’t carrying groceries. I was carrying delicious possibilities: apple pie, apple brown betty, apple crisp – Gravensteins are amazing baking apples, tart-sweet and tangy. Even better, I was burning off some of the calories I was about to eat and I had met a nice neighbor!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
We have a piece of waste land outside our house with lots of trees and bushes. A neighbour and I looked up to see these red large berries. Pulled a few down, and thought they were cherries. We tasted them, and found they were like plums. Gold inside, juicy. Dark red, and very shiny. I have lived here 10 years and never seem them before. The tree is very tall. I would like to know more about these plums, where are they from?
Hi Patricia,
I don’t know where you live, but here, the trees often spread via birds. Once dropped, the seeds become sprouts and the sprouts turn into bushes and the bushes become large trees within a few years! Definitely sounds like wild plums, though, because you described them perfectly – shiny dark on the outside and gold on the inside. (Although we have the yellow ones in our yard.)